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The minutes are there. It's up to rookie Roy Hibbert to take advantage of them. Indiana Pacers coach Jim O'Brien usually signals down to Hibbert to check into the game at some point in the first quarter.

The 7-2 center usually ends up back on the bench a few minutes later.
It's not that he isn't playing hard or providing a defensive presence for the 2-3 Pacers. The problem Hibbert has is that he can't stay out of foul trouble.

The little things get Hibbert in trouble. It's an illegal screen one time, then being a step too late helping out another time. At times he's been whistled while trying to block a shot.

Hibbert has picked up at least three fouls in each of the past four games. His minutes will remain limited until he learns how to avoid fouling so much.
"I think he's taking a lot of positive steps," O'Brien said. "He's stepping up and really protecting the basket. If we can deal with his foul difficulties, his minutes will continue to increase."

The Pacers host Oklahoma City tonight at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Hibbert's minutes have been relatively limited -- 13.6 per game -- but he's shown he can be a steady contributor if he can stay out of foul trouble.
He's an above-average passer for his position, he's always trying to provide help defense and he's shown that he can get up and down the court with the rest of his teammates offensively.

"The NBA is a tough game," O'Brien said. "It takes experience for all rookies to understand the nuances offensively and defensively in the league. There's nothing like experience and they need as much as experience as they can.

"Sometimes we're force-feeding them those minutes and we won't always force-feed those minutes. They'll earn them.

Hibbert had his best game of the season when he had 11 points, nine rebounds and two blocks against the Cavaliers last Friday. He also fouled out with more than nine minutes left in the game.

The play that often gets Hibbert in trouble is when he leans forward with his arms instead keeping them straight up when an offensive player drives to the basket. He about flew out the gym on a pump fake from Cleveland's Anderson Varejao about 12 feet from the basket. Hibbert said he needs to improve his defensive stance.

"Obviously I'm trying to adjust as fast as I can, but I need to pick it up a lot quicker because I'm picking up too many fouls in a short amount of time," Hibbert said. "If I want to be effective I've got learn to play defense without fouling."

Hibbert said the game is being called tighter than in college. He spends the first couple of minutes of each game analyzing how close the officials are calling things.

"I've been telling him ever since I met him that he has to bend his knees defensively," teammate Jeff Foster said. "For him to be effective and stay on the floor as much as we need him to and he would like to, he's got to bend his legs and become more of an athletic defensive presence."

Hibbert's doing his best to knock the notion that he's just a defensive player who happens to know how to pass from the high post of the offense. He works hard to get open deep in the post to try to give the Pacers some sort of offensive scoring down low. The results haven't shown up yet, as Hibbert is shooting just 46 percent from the field.

"He's a very skilled low-post player," O'Brien said. "He uses both of his hands. He hasn't had the success I think he's going to enjoy throughout this year and into his future. Shots are just not dropping for him, but certainly he's getting quality shots."

--------------------

This is no surprise. We expected Hibbert to have to learn to play without fouling. who can explain to me why Foster insists he need to bend his knees? Is it just to enable him to move more quickly?

And I won't be here to see the dayIt all dries up and blows awayI'd hang around just to seeBut they never had much use for meIn Levelland. (James McMurtry)

Re: Star: Hibbert fouls too much

This is no surprise. We expected Hibbert to have to learn to play without fouling. who can explain to me why Foster insists he need to bend his knees? Is it just to enable him to move more quickly?

A boxer. A shortstop. A tennis player. A defensive stopper. All four must begin with what sports announcers call good athletic position. Your knees are bent so there's tension in the thighs. You're on your toes. One foot is slightly ahead of the other. You're ready to react in any of the four directions: left, right, forward, or backward.

Basketball coaches call it the defensive stance. It's mostly common sense: you can defend better if your body is in position to react. If you want to move from a standing up position, your first motion is to bend your knees. Why not get a head start?

Re: Star: Hibbert fouls too much

It's mostly common sense: you can defend better if your body is in position to react. If you want to move from a standing up position, your first motion is to bend your knees. Why not get a head start?

OK. I supposed this was the case, but wanted to ask if there was more to it.

Why doesn't Hibbert already have the right habit? Is he bringing a bad habit with him from college, where he could play defense simply by reaching up and creating a 9-foot-high wall? Maybe KennerLeaguer can comment on that.

And I won't be here to see the dayIt all dries up and blows awayI'd hang around just to seeBut they never had much use for meIn Levelland. (James McMurtry)

Re: Star: Hibbert fouls too much

Am I the only one who thinks Hibbert's been jobbed on a few calls the past couple games? Sure, he's making plenty of rookie mistakes, but there's also been a few plays where fouls have been called on Roy that wouldn't have been called on a non-star veteran like Foster.

Re: Star: Hibbert fouls too much

Am I the only one who thinks Hibbert's been jobbed on a few calls the past couple games? Sure, he's making plenty of rookie mistakes, but there's also been a few plays where fouls have been called on Roy that wouldn't have been called on a non-star veteran like Foster.

This was the case in the New Jersey game. I missed the Cavs game so I can't really say but in the other games I think the fouls were warranted.

He's not as bad as David Harrison or Ike Diogu was their rookie and sophomore seasons. Jeff Foster was a foul magnet his first couple of seasons. Even Shaquille O'Neal, despite how dominant a rookie season he had, fouled a lot.

I'm not too worried about it because it's early in the season and he's had some extremely difficult matchups so far. He'll come around. He's too good a defensive player not too.

Re: Star: Hibbert fouls too much

OK. I supposed this was the case, but wanted to ask if there was more to it.

Why doesn't Hibbert already have the right habit? Is he bringing a bad habit with him from college, where he could play defense simply by reaching up and creating a 9-foot-high wall? Maybe KennerLeaguer can comment on that.

i think it is more about habit than anything else really. in college, with limited exception (oden and thabeet) roy rarely faced players of his size and strength. if he were to have played IU last season he would have faced 6'8" DJ White at center. roy played four years with a big defensive advantage over his competition and that just doesn't happen in the NBA when facing guys like perkins and sheed and big z etc. doesn't mean he won't be a quick learner. he's only played five games and he's a smart dude. he'll figure it out.

Am I the only one who thinks Hibbert's been jobbed on a few calls the past couple games? Sure, he's making plenty of rookie mistakes, but there's also been a few plays where fouls have been called on Roy that wouldn't have been called on a non-star veteran like Foster.

i've seen a couple of plays that i'm not even sure how rookies could be called for fouls but that's how it works sometimes.

Re: Star: Hibbert fouls too much

A boxer. A shortstop. A tennis player. A defensive stopper. All four must begin with what sports announcers call good athletic position. Your knees are bent so there's tension in the thighs. You're on your toes. One foot is slightly ahead of the other. You're ready to react in any of the four directions: left, right, forward, or backward.

Basketball coaches call it the defensive stance. It's mostly common sense: you can defend better if your body is in position to react. If you want to move from a standing up position, your first motion is to bend your knees. Why not get a head start?

Bill Russell called it being in "flex position." He said he tried to play the whole game with his knees bent, torso slightly forward and shoulders cocked. In fact, in a fantastic "Big Man Summit" NBA TV hosted in the summer after Greg Oden was drafted (basically a roundtable Q&A with Admiral, Ewing, Walton, Nate Thumond and Greg) that was the first piece of advice he gave Oden.

He said that if you're not in a flex position, you are much slower because when something on the court happens, you need to 1) react, 2) flex and 3) move. By being in a state of constant flex, he said he was able to cut out step #2 and do everything more quickly. Guys like Sideshow and Jeff pretty much stick to that script as well.

Re: Star: Hibbert fouls too much

Bill Russell called it being in "flex position." He said he tried to play the whole game with his knees bent, torso slightly forward and shoulders cocked. In fact, in a fantastic "Big Man Summit" NBA TV hosted in the summer after Greg Oden was drafted (basically a roundtable Q&A with Admiral, Ewing, Walton, Nate Thumond and Greg) that was the first piece of advice he gave Oden.

He said that if you're not in a flex position, you are much slower because when something on the court happens, you need to 1) react, 2) flex and 3) move. By being in a state of constant flex, he said he was able to cut out step #2 and do everything more quickly. Guys like Sideshow and Jeff pretty much stick to that script as well.

Um...that's ****ing awesome. Do they have any more of those? Like PG summits? Or SG summits? Flopping summits?

Re: Star: Hibbert fouls too much

In fact, in a fantastic "Big Man Summit" NBA TV hosted in the summer after Greg Oden was drafted (basically a roundtable Q&A with Admiral, Ewing, Walton, Nate Thumond and Greg) that was the first piece of advice he gave Oden.